A Christmas Carol
by NonyMouse
Summary: [SSFE for Dragon Pants]The drama team goes caroling, and Ryan falls down and hurts his leg, so Troy takes him back to school alone. This story will have mentions of SLASH, so you have been warned!


**Disclaimer:** I do not own HSM. If I did, I certainly wouldn't be writing fanfiction for it. I'd be much too busy getting kicked out of Disney for making Troy and Ryan gay and in a not G-rated relationship together.

**Warning:** This fic is Troy/Ryan, which means it is slash, which means it has a male/male relationship. If that offends you, then don't read, or at least don't flame telling me I'm sick for writing slash, because that is stupid, and I will ignore you. Although, this fic more just has undertones of slashyness than any actual slash.

**AN:** This was written as a Secret Santa fic for Dragon Pants. She wanted:  
1. Major awww factor  
2. A surprise ending  
3. A creative plot  
4. Use of a song (not necessarily a song fic, but something central in the fic.)

I tried to incorporate a song, but I'm not very good with songs, so I hope this worked out alright. Also, I'm not sure how surprising my surprise ending is, but I tried.

* * *

_I never did understand the appeal of Christmas caroling. _A bored Troy Bolton, captain of the East High basketball team and the star of the previous year's school play, trudged through freezing slush at the end of a clump of his fellow drama department members. Every year, it seemed, it was tradition for them to go out caroling, something Troy wished he had known before he joined. They unexpected snow that Albuquerque had received just that morning just made things more unpleasant in Troy's opinion, as he constantly had to worry about slipping in patches of ice.

The only person who seemed less happy than Troy was Ryan Evans. His hat, a dark grey one, lay low over his eyes, and his button down shirt was covered by a heavy dark blue jacket. Sharpay, his twin sister, kept trying to get him excited, but he kept brushing her off. Ducking as Sharpay tried to push his hat up, Ryan slipped and went down, his arms flailing and his hat flying off to the side. The entire drama club turned and stared.

Sharpay immediately rushed over to his side, although Troy noticed that she didn't kneel in the snow, as that would have gotten her pants wet. "Ryan, are you okay?" she squealed, almost smothering him in her concern. Troy would have found the situation amusing, if he hadn't also been worried about Ryan. He was grateful when Ms. Darbus intervened.

"Miss Evans, stop smothering your brother," she commanded, causing Sharpay to back off. Turning to Ryan, Ms. Darbus continued. "Mr. Evans, can you get up alright?" Ryan stood, grimaced, and fell back while shaking his head "no." "Well then," she said, turning to the group, "who is willing to help Mr. Evans back to the school?" Sharpay stepped forward with a long suffering sigh.

"I'll do it, Ms. Darbus," she said with the air of someone doing a charitable deed.

Ryan picked up on her feeling immediately. "You don't have to do that, Sharpay." Before she could protest, Troy stepped forward and offered to escort Ryan back to school himself. "See," Ryan told Sharpay with a pained grin, "You can go on caroling; I'll be fine."

Troy helped Ryan stand, and Ryan slung his arm over Troy's shoulder. They were silent on their way back to school. When they reached the auditorium, Troy helped Ryan ease himself down onto one of the chairs and finally broke the silence. "Are you okay Ryan? That was a really nasty fall you took." Troy bit his lip in concern, and Ryan giggled, prompting an annoyed look from Troy. "What?"

"Troy, I'll be fine," Ryan assured him with a smile that made Troy want to melt. Troy had had a crush on the smaller boy ever since they worked together during the play, and Troy had a sneaking suspicion that somehow, Ryan knew. He didn't know how Ryan would know, but being alone with the boy was doing things to Troy that he sincerely hoped would go unnoticed. "So Troy," Ryan continued with a smirk, "now that we're back here all alone, what do you want to do. Alone. With me."

Troy looked around the auditorium. There wasn't really very much in the way of entertainment, he decided. Finally, his eyes landed on the piano on stage. "Maybe we can sing a few Christmas songs, since you had to come back before you got to carol," he suggested. Ryan rolled his eyes, a gesture completely lost on Troy, and agreed. Troy helped Ryan up to the piano bench, and they sat down next to each other.

"Why Troy," Ryan said in surprise as Troy played a few notes to make sure it was in tune, "I had no idea you could play piano."

"My mom made me take lessons. Something about how 'every well brought up young man should know how to play the piano." Ryan laughed at Troy's imitation of his mother. Troy, anxious to change the subject, turned to Ryan and asked, "What song should we play first?"

"How about 'Frosty the Snowman'?" Ryan suggested, smiling. "It's my favorite Christmas song." Troy agreed with a smile. 'It figures that Ryan's favorite Christmas song would be something like 'Frosty the Snowman.'' A giggle escaped from Troy, but Ryan pretended not to notice, for which Troy was thankful. They began playing, and Ryan began to sing.

_Frosty the Snowman  
Was a jolly happy soul  
With a corncob pipe and a button nose  
And two eyes made out of coal_

Listening to Ryan sing, Troy was struck by the quality of the other boy's voice. Ryan was able to hit all the notes beautifully, even the high ones, which Troy always struggled with. He had never known that 'Frosty the Snowman' could sound so incredibly sexy and beautiful.

_Frosty the Snowman  
Is a fairytale they say_

'He certainly is,' Troy thought, staring at Ryan and letting his fingers falter on the piano keys. Still singing, Ryan glanced at him, and Troy hurriedly picked back up.

_He was made of snow  
But the children know  
How he came to life one day_

_There must have been some magic  
_

'Magic. Magic like what got me picked to star in the play last year; magic like what allowed me the chance to get to know Ryan.' A soft smile formed on Troy's lips. Ryan, glancing at Troy from the corner of his eyes, grinned in response.

_In that old silk hat they found  
For when they placed it on his head  
He began to dance around_

Memories of Ryan dancing invaded Troy's mind. Ryan was always a better dancer than Troy. The way he flowed, the way he moved with his own energy, was captivating. Troy slid closer to Ryan on the piano bench, not noticing that Ryan was doing the same.

_Frosty the Snowman  
Was alive as he could be _

'Alive as Ryan makes me feel.'

_  
And the children say  
He could laugh and play  
Just the same as you and me_

_Frosty the Snowman  
Knew the sun was hot that day  
So he said let's run  
And we'll have some fun  
Now before I melt away_

Troy and Ryan were touching by this point, and each boy felt the heat radiating off the other.

_Down to the village  
With a broomstick in his hand  
Running here and there all around the square  
Saying catch me if you can _

He led them down the streets of town  
Right to the traffic cop  
And he only paused a moment when  
He heard him holler stop

Frosty the Snowman  
Had to hurry on his way  
But he waved goodbye  
Saying don't you cry  
I'll be back again some day

As Ryan went into the final lines of the song, Troy could help the disappointment that welled up inside of him. Singing with Ryan was one of the most fun things that had happened to him in a long time, and he, unlike the kids who frosty left behind, could not be certain that the chance would ever come again. Ryan went into the final stanza, and Troy told his thoughts to shut up and just listen to Ryan's beautiful voice.

Thumpety thump thump  
Thumpety thump thump  
Look at Frosty go  
Thumpety thump thump  
Thumpety thump thump  
Over the hills of snow

The song ended abruptly, and for a moment neither boy moved. Finally, Troy broke the silence. "Ryan, that was amazing. You're a fantastic singer, you know."

Ryan turned his breathtaking grin on Troy. "I know." Ryan's face was only inches away from Troy's. The smaller boy had his head tilted up to look at Troy, and his warm breath ghosted over Troy. Troy felt himself blush, and his head moved of its own will closer to Ryan, whose smirk widened in anticipation of what he knew was on Troy's mind. "Well, are you going to kiss me or not?" he began, but before he could get it out, the door to the auditorium banged open, and the drama club poured into the room.

Ryan and Troy leapt apart, Troy with a blush on his cheeks. Sharpay, who had come in at the head of the group, threw herself at Ryan and began showering him with questions about his health. "Sharpay!" he finally cried, "I'm okay!" Continuing in a softer, more mischievous voice, he said, "I was never really hurt anyway. I just needed an excuse to get away from caroling; you know how much I hate it. And Troy here was looking rather miserable too, so I figured I may as well help us both out." Sharpay tutted and flounced away, saying in annoyance, "You could have at least told me so I wouldn't worry." Ryan merely smiled at her.

Troy gaped at Ryan. "You were never hurt? Why didn't you say so?"

"No, I wasn't hurt. I couldn't tell you, though," he added with a puppy dog look that had Troy melting. "You were so cute when you were being all concerned." Troy just stared at Ryan. 'I guess he gets more from Sharpay than people think,' Troy thought dazedly.


End file.
